


eunhae | army correspondence

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Series: suju army life [1]
Category: Super Junior
Genre: Author: Ai, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 09:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5158388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hyukjae writes home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	eunhae | army correspondence

Hyukjae sits on his bunk, balancing the notepad in his lap. He taps the pen against the paper and wonders why this is all so difficult. Surely it shouldn't be this hard to write to someone who you've known for fifteen years. Surely it should be easy to write to someone you would talk to practically every hour of every single day. What to say, what to say.

"Writing a letter home, Hyuk?" one of his platoon mate Junhyung asks. The boy flops onto his bunk and pulls his own notepad out. "I should probably do that too. My mom keeps whining that I never write, even though I just sent her a letter last week."

Hyukjae chuckles along with him. "Yeah I'm writing home," he replies. "Sort of."

"Sort of?" Junhyung asks. "How do you sort of write a letter home?"

"It's not... going to my parents," Hyukjae replies.

"Ah," Junghyung says. He winks at Hyukjae, "your girlfriend huh? Don't want to cause a scandal."

"No," Hyukjae replies. "It's not that either." He writes the date in the corner of the page and starts writing the body of the letter.

Another soldier sits down on Junhyung's bed and watches them both write. He spies Hyukjae's piles of letters tucked neatly under his bed and says, "I still can't believe you actually receive this many letters. And all from your fans! Wahhh."

Hyukjae can't help but smile. He's so grateful for the fans' love while he's been away, but he has to admit: his favorite part of the letters is when they update him on the other members. On Kyuhyun's solo album or Leeteuk's SNS posts or Kangin's musical or Siwon's drama. He spends every free moment of time absorbing their words, not that he has many free moments. 

"Who's... Donghaek?" the other boy, Minseok asks, looking over Hyukjae's shoulder at the paper.

"Donghae," he replies and pulls the notepad up. "Donghaek is just a nickname. It's... it's a long story." 

And at that moment, Hyukjae feels more tired than he has in awhile. He'd spent so long with Super Junior that he never had to explain them anymore. When they weren't on shows, nobody really asked for explanations of anything they did. Nobody asked why they washed their hair in Fanta or why they dressed in Elsa costumes at their concerts or why the minute they got off the plane in Japan they  _had_  to go straight to the ramen shop. But here, Hyukjae has had to explain everything. He'd start telling a  funny story only to realize halfway through that he had to provide far more backstory than what it was worth. Everyone here is new and unfamiliar, and after spending over a decade with the same set of brothers, it feels... weird.

"I heard that you become like family in the army," he'd overhead one of the new enlistees say. 

"I already have a family," he'd wanted to say. "I don't need another one."  
He only has a short while before they have to suit up for another training exercise, so Hyukjae blocks out everyone else and starts to write.

_Donghaek haek haek,_

_This is handsome soldier Lee Hyukjae who will graduate from basic training in just a few days. My graduation ceremony is coming up: my parents are coming. Mom says you've written her a few times and she's grateful. She's glad to hear you're doing well, but she worries about you. Teukkie-hyung does too. Everyone keeps telling me. The fans have written me lots of letters, but I'm sure you've received more. Have you been reading them well? What is your training like? Our training is... well, training. You're in the military too so I'm sure you don't need to be bothered with the details. Most importantly, I'm healthy and doing well._

_The guys in my platoon are nice. I've become friends with some of them, but... it's a weird feeling, you know? We've been together as Super Junior for so long that I've forgotten what it's like to be apart from everyone. Even when I was with my family, I was with people who were familiar to me, but here no one is familiar. It's... it's not easy adjusting, but I'll be okay._

_Are you okay? Are you healthy? Is your training manageable?_

Hyukjae puts down his pencil and thinks of what to write next. He'd heard from Leeteuk that Donghae was having a hard time. "It's cold, hyung," he had said. Hyukjae doesn't know whether it's the temperature of the air or of his heart. He knows he shouldn't worry: Donghae does have that habit of making everyone fall in love with him, but sometimes, it's much harder for Donghae to let others in. He doesn't like it when people leave. Hyukjae doesn't think anyone particularly likes that feeling, but it always hits Donghae especially hard.

So he talks about something else.

_It rained yesterday, and I thought of you. It's not the same without you here. You with your stock photo-like pictures and stupid instagram captions._

A whistle blows and Hyukjae knows he only has a few minutes to finish up. He quickly scribbles,

_I've got to go, but I'll write when I can. I miss you, Haek. I miss everybody. But July 2017 will come soon._

_I'll make the fans send me photos of your ugly shaved head kkkkk_

_Soon,_

_Hyuk._

He hurriedly folds the letter and tucks it into an envelope. Another whistle blows and he shoves his feet into his boots and pulls on his jacket and buttons it up to army regulations. He marches out with the rest of his platoon and lines up to receive instructions.

*

A few weeks later, he receives his daily pile of mail. One envelope sticks out among them all. This one isn't decorated nicely like the others. The envelope looks like it's already been used as it's taped together and scribbled on. He spies the familiar chicken scratch on the front and tears it open immediately.

_Myeolchi!_

_This is the ever-handsome soldier Lee Donghae who is still handsome with a shaved head. That makes me sound like Heechul doesn't it kkkkk. Training is hard but it's okay. You're right - it's weird not seeing you everyday._

Hyukjae squints at the page. Donghae's handwriting is so poor that it's hard for him to read. 

_Anyways, I'm doing well and your mom says you're doing well too. She's writes me a lot. She's worried about us TT.TT so is my mom. They both said you did well at your graduation ceremony and that they're coming for mine. It'll be good to see them._

_Take care of the hyungs when you get back._

_Soon,_

_Haek._

It’s short, but Hyukjae would have expected nothing less. He reads it over and over and over until he can hear Donghae’s voice laughing along with him. 

And he wishes, not for the first time, that they could have enlisted together.

Hyukjae blinks back tears and shakes his head as if to rid himself of emotions. He folds the letter back into the envelope and finally realizes why it looks so familiar. 

It's the same envelope he sent Donghae first. 

Hyukjae just smiles. Some things never change.


End file.
